HMS ''Fordham'' was one of 93 ships of the of inshore

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after Fordham in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to th ...

References

*Blackman, R.V.B. ed. ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (1953) Ham-class minesweepers Royal Navy ship names 1956 ships {{UK-minesweeper-stub